Knock on wood. but SHOULD be Australia by 15-20, conservatively.

A bit off subject but I'm loving this a Double Dribble show. Wasn't giving it a lot of credit at first but have found myself laughing quite regularly.

Also a bit off-topic, but what do people think of the WC schedule?

Is it just me or is the 'game a day with one rest day' excessive?

5 games in 6 days. At least maybe throw in another rest day in there IMO.

How can Phil Smyth be so clueless?

ingles and newley have both gotten to the basket with ease at times , but yeah probably more from their own creation

tournament wise i mean

Did Shane Heal just refer to Baynes as "Outback Shaq"??

Jawai is a great passer for his size

we all had questions why jawai was brought in as he is so unfit and what does he offer but his passing has been leagues ahead of any of our other bigs. i mean light years ahead.

That horn is pretty fucking annoying!

clear flop by the mexican. dont fall for that ref

lol how was the offensive foul on jawai for the elbow. if thats an offensive foul then you might as well send valunciounas home from the tournament , ive never seen the guy hit a post shot without the elbow in the defenders chest.

Solid first quarter by the Aussies.

End of first quarter, Andersen hits 2 free throws with 4.4s to go and is then subbed off for the last possession. Recognition that his defence is sub-par.

"Anderson is just a. Crab" SPOT ON!

Gibbo a real difference game changes when he's on, tempo etc. Think Andrej needs to check the rotations some imbalance at times

Bairstow needs to take Anderson's minutes instead of being crap and getting into foul trouble.

Does Anderson have jelly hands?

Let's do it for Redfoo

Sweet long twos from Anderson though.

Just need to control this one, keep Burt Ritto off the glass

He is money

Rowdy Broekhoff!

BROEKHOFF!

Come on boys box out!

dammit Cam you've missed some chippies

Jawai has great court vision.

Nate is a smart player.

Loving Jawai's play in Q3. Say what you will about his conditioning but when he gets the ball he does good things with it. If he gets back in shape after his injury, he could only play more minutes in future tournaments.

Let's for Boomers in Q4!

*Go

Geez that was crap LOL

This score line is worrying me, need to keep pushing

I know he just subbed in but after missing a block out sub Anderson back out

so if australia wins and then we beat angola and lithuania lose to serbia do we finish 2nd?

Can we send an SOS to another power forward somewhere that can replace Anderson? We must have someone better.

Did Mexico forget to bring their late game scenarios play book. No urgency to win. Game was with in their distance to. Good win Boomers

Big game Baynes.

I am confused after watching the 4th quarter. Was either team playing basketball?

Well done Boomers, but rather strange finish by Mexico. Started pressing / fouling with 15s left, no urgency before then!

Delly could have had 4 or 5 more assists there. Need to improve our finishing. It was bad in that 4th.
Gibson was very impressive. Justifying his selection.

Broekhoff showed enormours character out there. He helped win the game for us in that 3rd. Great bounce back after a rough first half!

What is the order of tomorrow's games? May be crucial as to whether we play before or after Slovenia

I felt frustrated watching Andersen play.

Probably should've won by more, but have to take that. Baynes with another raw but strong performance.

Baynes 21, Broekhoff 12, Newley 10.

I think that the coach may have been looking at stuff and trying things out this game, I just got the feeling they never took it too seriously.. they certainly never seemed worried, even when the scores got close.. I never worried either, I just didn't feel like Mexico had the horses to mount a real challenge to us. Australia never got out of first gear.

We certainly do need to work on our half court game and I have a feeling thats what they tried to do today against Mexico.. with limited success. Put it this way, Australia could upset some very good teams if they play at their own tempo... but if they don't they could really struggle. It makes sense to me that they would spend this game, and tomorrows game, really looking at how we run half court. Also, if we need to drop tommorrows game it would be a good time to have a look at even more.

In the end, I never felt Australia was truly challenged and if they needed to bring it up a notch they could have. Happy with the win. Lets hope the ladder favours us by tomorrow night!

Baynes again huge. Baynes just keeps getting better each year.

Is it just me, or do the refs make calls that mimic the momentum of the game? It seemed like when a team was making a run, the calls also went the way of the team with momentum.

I found Andersen frustrating to watch. IMO he shouldn't be playing the 4 spot. Defensively struggled. Yet his boxscore looks tidy.

Ingles had another strong game, albeit with only one shot attempt. I found it odd when Mexico went with the 3-guard lineup and our offense wasn't even attempting to exploit the height mismatches. Ingles must've been 25cm taller than his man each possession.

Newley was great at both ends. Really aggressive when we needed it. He does well getting into the passing lanes when the guards try to trap.

Pleasantly surprised by Gibson in this tournament. His minutes are totally warranted. I would have played him more.

While Motum had a knack for getting some sneaky and efficient shots around the basket in the friendly games, he hasn't been able to replicate it in the tournament. I still prefer to see him play the 4 than Andersen. Although I didn't mind Andersen coming on late in the game since he is very familiar with those situations.

I had that game pegged as a danger game but they got across the line and a win is a win.

Lithuania and Slovenia play after the Boomers tomorrow so Lithuania hold the key to our destiny (in part).

Re Andersen, his play is error prone and his low post, back to the basket moves are turnover candy for the opposition. His low post, isolation moves look slow and awkward but I suspect he is following direction as he has traditionally been a better stretch jump shooter than a low post beast.

Thank goodness Baynes and Jawai have performed so well as our other 3 big guys have been erratic (which shouldn't be surprising given Andersen has only returned to competitive basketball in the last few months and Motum and Bairstow are World Cup debutants).

I now its long odds, but I think if Angola, who are desperate and African champions manages to knock of Slovenia, then Lithuania beats Slovenia, we can still grab first by beating Angola...

With a possible match up with NZ in the next round!

Angola leading into the 4th

Bugger

Recap up on PnR thanks to Craig Rayner with highlights video.

2014 FIBA World Cup: Boomers hold off Mexico for third straight win

I don't advocate us dropping the Angola game nor do I think the team will contemplate doing this BUT our best chance of finishing 3rd will be if we lose the game. We cannot now top the group and cannot fall bellow third.

If we lose Lithuania will then have maximum incentive to win against Slovenia because ANY win will guarantee them topping the group.

A win for the Boomers against Angola needs a Lithuania win by 5-13 for us to get third.

With a Lithuania loss the result against Angola does not matter. We will be second.

So a starting five of Jawai, Bairstow, Motum, Goulding and Exum then?

You guys are being so rough. Andersen is not a crab... crabs can move sideways.

Hey. Why not. The result of the next game is sort of irrelevant as I said. Give the guys who play less minutes plenty of burn as well as a chance to see what they can do. Rest the guys who have been playing big minutes and give the Boomers a better chance of reaching the medal round. Can't think of a downside really.

FWIW I don't advocate throwing a game, but with us already qualified for the Round of 16 I wouldn't have a problem with the coaches resting key players so they are fit and firing when it matters on Saturday or Sunday.

It's also a great chance to get some more run into the legs of the guys I mentioned above.

Now if that happens to mean we lose the game to Angola, who will be playing for their lives (and were great today against Slovenia) then so be it, it might just turn out for the best.

Lemanis can't seem to help himself. He will probably play Andersen for big minutes again tonight at the expense of giving Exum, Goulding and Jawai a really good run.

Andersen would be a decent role player on this team coming off the bench at 10-15 minutes per game. He does provide some good qualities. He can knock down that 15 foot shot and pick up some rebounds. The problem is that he has just become a black hole with both minutes and the ball. When it goes into him in the post the the other 4 players know they are not going to see the ball again until he either puts a shot up or turns it over. His play stagnates our offence and slows it to a crawl. He shouldn't be taking 3pt shots unless all other options have closed. He played his role perfectly in London but he is just on the floor too much here.

Paul, I like your starting 5, but only if Jawai is running the point. Exum only to practice his post up moves.

Goulding as the lock-down defender?

...Only if he definitely does not have the green light to shoot.

Actually, we could probably get Anderson to practice his post up moves with as much success as Exum!

Now now, Dave's a good Frankston boy, let's leave the Andersen hate in the posh suburbs please!

I never use to mind Anderson, now I see why so many hate the guy.

His excuse for post moves are these shocking, bumbling, unco baby giraffe moves where he loses control of the ball. They look more like a really bad grinding dance move in a gay bar than they do any kind of tactical play.

I agree.. He adds a few decent elements, but not any more so then Jawai adds a good passing big man.. Anderson is a 15 minute a game player, not 30. And my god if he fumbles the ball again I am going to track him down and kill him!

in the last 2mins mexico were in multiple positions to steal the game
did they throw this game?

Well, I never been to Spain, but I kinda like to be there, even though Jawai should be sent home and Gibson cain't play.